Menu

Karadeniz Restaurant

(90) 212 258-6290 Başka Şubemiz Yoktur Istanbul, Turkey

OPEN HOURS: 12:00pm 7:00 pm – daily

After visiting the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, we walked around the corner to a very touristic arcade bereft of the food options we’d come to expect as our due in Istanbul! The market was a small passage full of shops selling higher quality handcrafts (for the most part), at very high prices with only a few places worth. We were going to write off the whole market when ….

Towards the end of the passage we came upon a group of men eating some exceptionally yummy looking food, and us being quite hungry at the time, started staring and wondering where did they get their delectable dishes! Not a minute passed when the men, with true Turkish hospitality, asked if we wanted to try it! Of course we did 🙂 After a single scrumptious sample, we got the convoluted directions and after a short walk (and couple of wrong turns) we ended in a closed alley with a few local cafeterias, of which our destination – Karadeniz – was one. Oh how lucky we can sometimes be 🙂

We ordered the kiremitte kebap, a lovely stew of tomatoes, herbs an eggplant; – that dish what we had sampled from the men in the arcade. The Çoban Chopped Salad and a Pide Turkish pizza.

If you are in the area, and wish to eat like locals, then a side bar at Karadeniz is a must.

trio of ceviches (octopus and shrimp, tilapia Peruvian style and tilapia with rocotto)

Alma

Located in Hotel Casa Sana Agustin, a beautiful colonial house turned hotel, on one of the prettiest street corners in the old city; Alma’s speaks to the true colonial past of this wonderful city.

The menu shares many favorite Peruvian classics, with a mild influence of Colombian & Asian cuisines. Peruvian cuisine is quite in vogue throughout Colombia, thankfully.

The restaurant is open pretty much all the time, features courtyard dining and a lovely bar that opens during the evenings. Add in excellent service, cool AirCon and good wifi speed, and Alma quickly becomes the place to hide during the heat of the day. A great place to have a good coffee, bite of lunch and get some work done while visiting Cartagena.

Corabastos

OPEN HOURS: 4:00 – 12:00 Daily

The largest vegetable, fruit, cereals and grain supply market in Colombia, and the largest we have visited in the world. 420,000 square meters with 57 warehouses and 6,500 vendors. Adaily movement of 12.400 tonnes of produce. Visiting Corabastos makes you ask how there could possibly be a hungry person in this world. There is SO MUCH FOOD!

If you can, the best time to go is about 7:00am. Corabastos is not tourist friendly, so never go alone. Also keep in mind to dress down so as not to attract attention from the occasional pick pocketer; keep your wallet in safe place and hide your camera when not shooting.

If you actually intend on buying food, remember this is a whole sale market. The smallest amounts sold are individual crates or boxes. You can hire a porter for a few thousand pesos to walk with you and bring your boxes along for the journey.

If you are a serious market-eer, then it is well worth the trip. The sheer scale and smell is something we have see nowhere else. Try imagining 30m x 50m of nothing but carrots 3m high! Corebastos is on the edges of Bogota, about a one hour plus drive from central areas.

Çiya Restaurant

OPEN HOURS: 11:00am 10:00 pm – daily

Located in Kadiköy, on the Asian side of the Bospherous, Çiya is not an obvious place, but is quite renowned. We had the luck of chatting with Yonca Erol manager of the Sekerci (Confectioner) Cafer Erol and after exchanging passionate stories of food, she literally held our hand and walked us up the hill, via narrow streets, all the way to Ciya. There, she introduced as vegetarians to Zeynep Çaliskan (part owner and wife of Musa Dağdeviren) and ordered for us. The exquisiteness and the flavours and freshness of every ingredient were astounding throughout our entire meal.

Opening in 1987, the excllelence quickly expanded. There are now 3 of thier restaurants on the same road – Ciya Sofrasi,Ciya Kebap & Ciya Kebab II (where you can get about 40 different kabob flavours!)

Chef/ proprietor Musa Dağdeviren has amazing knowledge in the various traditions of Anatolian, Ottoman, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Turkish, Seldjukian, Armenian, Ottoman, Syrian, and Jewish foods. He has lectured at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, California and written articles in about by every major food publication – worldwide.

Fortunately for many of us chef Musa and his lovely wife Zeynep Çaliskan have decided to share with the world the results of his extensive research in the culinary traditions of this vast region. This is distilled into a seasonal publication called Yemek ve Kültür (Food and Culture) The Magazine is beautifully designed with traditional folkloric illustrations

Highlights for us included:

Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses

Cheese and spiced apricot phyllo ‘cigars’

Stuffed dried eggplant

Carrot and pistachio fritters with chili yoghurt sauce

Oregano Thyme tea – as a digestif;

grape extract

“lahmacuns” – a kind of thin-crust pizza baked with mince, onions and tomatoes

Şekerci (Confectioner) Cafer Erol

(90) 216 337 1103 Yasa Cad. No:19 Kadiköy, Istanbul, Turkey

OPEN HOURS: 7:30am 10:00 pm – daily

Yonca Erol is foremost a charming woman; she is also a member of the Cafer Erol family, and the manager of the Şekerci Cafer Erol. Founded in 1807 this magnificent confectioner store as expanded to five branches around Istanbul. Yonca was more then happy to chat and lecture us on the different techniques used in the production of their wonderful sweets. After a thorough tasting and aquiring a variety of gifts for friends and family – Yonca walked us all the way to Ciya, her favorite food spot in Kadiköy (but more about that on a different post :).

Cafer Erol is lined with widow refrigerators holding delectable looing chocolates, filo pastries, halvas, honey cakes, marzipan and a 100 other sweets. On top of beautiful large glass jars with brass tops, are filled Ottoman sweets.

One such is the “Akide” pulled sugar. The Erol’s are flavored with honey, real fruit extracts, fresh spices and nuts. To the untrained eye the might seem like ordinary candy flavored with synthetic components and lots of unhealthy corn syrup; but these confections are exceptional due to technique and the quality of the fresh ingredients.

Our favorite Akide was the bergamot. This candy is made according to the old traditions – cooking the sugar in copper cauldrons over wood fire to a specific temperatures. Once it starts cooling and before it fully hardens the flavors are added, and the sugar is pulled. This is what gives the candy it’s outer shine. We brought some home in some of the fantastical gift containers on offer; a fez hat and sultans’ turbans as well as copper bowls

Turkish Delight, or Lokum, is a sweet dating from the 17th century. It was initially made with honey, molasses and flour. Through times eventual erosion, the basic components changed to refined sugar and starch; to help it acquire a silkier texture. Cafer Erol produces about thirty different flavors of this national sweet.

Be sure to swing by, say hello to Yonca and to give a little gift to your sweet tooth!